I use tarot and oracle cards as tools for reflection and contemplation. Rather than divining the future, they are a way for me to look more deeply at the "now."
"The goal isn't to arrive, but to meander, to saunter, to make your life a holy wandering." ~ Rami Shapiro

Monday, January 20, 2014

Lighten a Load

From the Wheel of Change Tarot, the Ten of Wands:
The usual RWS version of the Ten of Wands shows a man hunched over with a heavy load as he walks uphill. Yet Genetti has a group of national flags with one of the earth standing above all of them. Like the man with his burden, the earth does support, nurture and sustain us, often at a heavy cost. Yet do we feel concern and appreciation or a sense of entitlement? Normally I would interpret this card as me having taking on more obligations and responsibilities than I should. But this image reverses that and makes me ask if I am allowing someone else to carry what I should be carrying myself.

From the Oracle of the Dreamtime comes "Koala:"
The story of the Koala tells of how this tree-climbing marsupial lost his tail because he secretly hoarded water for himself during a drought. This wisdom story emphasizes that if we all share, there will be enough to go around. In adding this meaning to the card above, I am encouraged to do what I can to help ease another's burden. Perhaps I cannot take the whole load myself, but if I take some of it, the other person's load will be considerably lightened.

6 comments:

  1. I think of survivalists as where we go when we run out of bread and eggs, they will be the new grocery and we take what we need. I don't care how many guns they have eventually the passerby will get it, this is a nanny nation after all.

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    1. Americans definitely have a strong sense of entitlement...

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  2. I always find it fascinating the different places cards can take us. Your description of that 10 of Wands made me think you'd go down an ecological route. And what I see comes closer to the Koala story: people divide themselves up into this group/nation or that, but we all share our common humanity, our common experience of living in and of this world… :)

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    1. I think if we as humans (worldwide) could become more compassionate to each other, it would probably affect the earth in a positive way too. :)

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  3. The allowing isn't so difficult it is the asking that is blocking us form sharing our load. Of course the other way around is easy, How of do we lighten the load of others even at our own expense ?

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    1. You're right - it has to be a transaction agreed upon both parties. One has to ask and one has to agree to share the load (and not do the whole "martyr" thing). But there still must be boundaries so no one gets stuck carrying all the weight.

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